Democratic Views on the Military

The military is one of the most essential establishments of the United States. A strong military is necessary to protect American citizens both in times of war and in times of peace. The best way to care for our military and its members has long been an issue of debate between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats believe in lowering defense budget when the economic situation calls for it. They believe that Republicans overspend on military causes and that much of this spending is outdated. Democratic views on the military also involve ending nuclear weapon development and safeguarding all nuclear materials around the world.\

Democrats on Military Spending

Democrats state that they do not support short changing the military, but that, “in our current fiscal environment, we must also make tough budgetary decisions across the board — and that includes within the defense budget.” They believe that Republicans wish to overspend on the military, not that they wish to underspend. For this reason, they seek defense budget cuts as a means of budget relief. The Democratic Party believes that a good portion of military spending is outdated, stating, “se will continue to get rid of outdated Cold War-era systems so that we can invest in cutting-edge technologies and maintain a versatile set of capabilities required to execute a wide range of military missions.” These “Cold War-era” systems include nuclear weapons technologies. For this reason, the Obama administration has arranged large cuts to the defense budget.

Democrats and Weapons Systems

Democrats strongly believe that the production of nuclear material must cease. They would like to see all bomb-production materials worldwide safeguarded, stating “We need to find it, catalog it, & lock it away. Our approach should be simple: treat nuclear materials that make bombs like they are bombs.” They also hope to reduce the preexisting stocks of nuclear weapons around the world. They would also like to see the development of an anti-tactical missile defense system in the United States. This system is far more limited than that envisioned by the Republican Party, but Democrats believe that this will make it safer, stating In light of the possibility that U.S. forces will have to contend with hostile tactical range ballistic missiles, we have been working rapidly to develop anti-tactical ballistic missile systems. We reject Republican plans to endanger our security with massive unilateral cuts in our arsenal and to construct an unproven, expensive, and ill-conceived missile defense system that would plunge us into a new arms race. Democrats support the development of the technology for a limited national missile defense system.”

Democrats and Veterans

The Democratic Party believes firmly in supporting veterans to the same extent that they supported their country. For this reason, many Democratic administrations, including the Obama administration have fought to increase resources for the Department of Veterans Affairs, and to ensure that coordination between the VA and the Department of Defense creates a smooth transition from active duty to civilian life for all soldiers. Democrats also believe in preserving and increasing health care and pension benefits for veterans. Most notably they seek to improve polytrauma, vision impairment, prosthetics, spinal cord injury, aging, and women’s health care plans. They hope to pass a swift passage of military and veterans appropriations legislation so that all veterans can receive care in a timely manner, and to see PTSD treatments readily available. Democrats have created, and support, the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration Program. This program is designed to “provide housing assistance and supportive services to veterans who might otherwise be living in homeless shelters or on the streets.” We continually work to ensure that the G.I. Bill has the appropriate resources to meet its goals of providing higher education to all who serve their country.

Hillary Clinton on the Military

Hillary Clinton believes that to preserve America’s safety, the most important moves going forward are to defending our core values and leading with principle, defeat ISIS and global terrorism and the ideologies that drive it, and strengthen our alliances and nurture new relationships to tackle shared challenges such as climate change, cyber threats, and highly contagious diseases. She believes in maintaining a cutting-edge military presence, and states that she will “ensure the United States maintains the best-trained, best-equipped, and strongest military the world has ever known.”

She agrees with her party’s consensus to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the wrong hands by stopping their production, and hopes to “vigorously enforce the nuclear agreement with Iran and implement a broader strategy to confront Iran’s bad behavior in the region.”

Hillary’s priorities for veterans and military personnel rest in reforming the existing programs, not in eliminating or building new programs. She opposes Republican desires to outsource the VA, and instead hopes to revamp the Veterans Health Administration, offering better coordination with military health care, private physicians and other existing resources while still leaving VA in charge and preventing outsourcing, stating “VA must maintain the ultimate responsibility of coordinating and ensuring comprehensive and quality health care for every veteran and the specialized services that they deserve — critical functions that would disappear if the VA were privatized.”

Bernie Sanders on the Military

Bernie Sanders believes that, although war is sometimes necessary, it should always be our absolute last resort. He served as Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and received the 2015 Congressional Award from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who stated, “It is no understatement to say that Bernie has truly taken care of wounded, ill, and injured veterans and their surviving family members.” Sanders believes that the defense budget has become bloated, and that it needs to be reassessed in light of domestic issues currently plaguing the country. He hopes to continue building support and opportunities for veterans and their families, providing them with stronger healthcare options.